Combination journal stop, oil seal, dust guard



April l1, 1961 D. s. CAMPBELL COMBINATION JOURNAL STOP OIL SEAL, DUST GUARD 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed Oct. l, 1957 April ll, 1961 D. s. CAMPBELL 2,979,346

COMBINATION JOURNAL STOP, OIL SEAL, nusI GUARD Filed oct. I. 1957 s sheets-sheet z Nij-@gf April 1l, 1961 D. s. CAMPBELL 2,979,346

COMBINATION JOURNAL STOP, OIL SEAL, DUST GUARD Filed oct. 1, 1957 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 f ||||I|y l l y'COMBINATION JOURNAL STOP, OIL SEAL,

' DUST GUARD David S. Campbell, Glen Ellyn, Ill., assignor to Cardwell Westinghouse Company, a corporation of Delaware Filed Oct. 1, 1957, Ser. No. 637,389

sciaims. (ci. zas- 6) This invention relates to a'combn'ation journal stop, oil seal, and dust guard assembly; and while the. arrange' ment oiers important individual lfeatures such as an'zimproved journal stop and an improved seal, the structures that embody each of these features are combined in a novel manner to produce a novel unitaryv assembly.

The principal objects of thekpresent linvention are: the provision of a simplified assembly for ready insertion in. the dust guard wells of existing` journal boxes to achieve a simplified journal stop construction, to elevate the effr fective oil retaining level of the dust guard well, and to utilize the dust guard itself for supplementing Vthe oil retaining action; the provision of a` noveljournal 'stop congurationfor minimizing frictionand wear due to contact between the journal land the stop; and the provision of an improved dust`cap of simple and' inexpensive' construction for sealing the open top ofthe 4clust guard well after the present assemblyvis in place.

Other objects and advantages will`become apparent during( the course of the kfollowing description. K

In the accompanying drawings forming a part of this specification and in which likernumerals are employed to designate like parts throughout thefsame, l l f Fig. l is a side sectional viewthrough a conventional journal box showing the novel assembly of the present.` invention located in the Adust guard well;

Figs. 2 and 3 are vsectional views taken substantially on the lines 2-,2 and 3?-3, respectively, of Fig. 1;

Fig. 4 is a plan sectional view taken throughthe dust guard well area of the journal box;`and' Fig. 5 is an exploded perspective view of the parts of theV novel assembly illustrating their construction and relative mounting relationship.

1 Referring now to the drawings, thre'novel assembly of the invention is shown mounted in the familiar dust guard well region r of a typical present-day journal rbox 11,. The dust guard well is defined by outer andA inner walls ice the inner and outer walls of the dust guard Well for receiving and encircling the journal 14.

Journal stop member 20,consists of a centrally apertturned plate 23 and fore and aft spaced journal stops 24. The stops are mounted on the plate in laterally offset relation thereto andare positioned on opposite sides of the opening through this member for flanking relation with the journal. Similarly, member 21, which is of the same general configuration as member 20, comprises a plate 25 that carries fore and aft spaced journal stops 26 in laterally olset relation.

The journal stops themselves may be ofV malleable iron or brass or bronze or an alloy of aluminum, or may even be of a Bakelite type of material or of any other material that exhibits the characteristic of high-impact strength and that is softer than the material of the jourfor the plate and the stops that will permit of forming a v one-piecellstucture.

The journal stop membe1s'20 and 21 are constructedy for insertion in the dust guard well to cooperate respectively withthe outer and inner walls 12 and 13 incontrolling'fore and aft movements of the journal relative narrower` than the openings in the corresponding walls sol to the journal box. VIt is preferred thaty the size and shape of 4these plateflike members be generally similar to theA size andshape of the walls with which they cooperate exf cept that th'eopenings in the plates 23 and 25 are slightlyl that the opposite'marginal edges of the plates and their associated journal stops project beyond theroppOsite marginal edges of the walls adjacent thereto. The laterally offset stops are thus arranged to overlap the laterally ex-` tending vertical edges that bound the opening through`4` the associated wall for abutment against these edgesin resisting fore and aft movement of the journal. Pref` erably, the stops are of the same thickness as the wall that is adjacent thereto so that the stops lie ush with@ this wall.

12 and 13, respectively, with these walls being formed; Y

with generallyl alignedopenings for receiving a journal 14that extends through the dust guard well and into the Y journal box for supporting the usual yjournal .brass'orv bearing (not shown). `The.iioor.15 ofthe journalbox cooperates with theinner wall 12 of the dust guard wellv to define a reservoir forlubricanhwith the effective retaining level of -this reservoir usually being atthe point indicated by the dotted linev16 asdeterrnined byfthe height of the lower lip of the inner wall 13. y Any desired form of lubricator (not shown/)maybe located in the Vjour'nalrbox for continuouslyupplying,

lubricant to the rotating journal in :the *usual-,mannen 4 The various parts of the-,novel assemblypof thep'resfjent invention,` as best see'nin the perspective view of Fig. 5, comprise outer and, inner'plate-like journal stop annular Yplate 27 that may be of libreboard or a Bakelite f When sharp impacts, such as arise during switching andt humping operations bring the journal into contact with,`

the stops, the forces of reaction, through the mediumof;`y the stops, are borne by the walls of the dust guard Well.k

y In this connection, the supporting plates for the stops are" mounted inthe dustguard well with a limitedqfreedomf. of movement to avoid the imposition of severe loads;-l either on the plates themselves or on the joint-betweenfv the plates and thestops. v y t vvThe spacer-member 22, which', is interposed between'r the .journal stop members 20 and 21 to maintainthe jour'-,`

nal stops in placein substantially flush alignment'1with'j the walls of thefdust guard well, is in the form oan type material provided with a circular opening ofA such f sembly within the dust guardy well is suflicientlyy free toF a,

diameter as to allow aclearance on'the order of %"2"--'5 with the journal;` Thus this spacer plate 27 .rides'with ther journal in the manner' of the familiar dust guard arrange-l ments. j The mountingarrangement of the presentfas'' out developing excessive wear on the` parts.

commodate 'the movement of the dust guardv plate with vIn mounting the `plateassembly of Figl` 5 in position adjacent'the innerwwall'v; thenjinermberl'l2 inserted inasirnilarfashioniinto operative positie jacent the` outer. wall,1 2; andpnally, thespacer or lust` Y guard `platte isjinse ved,,between the.journ'rlfstopv Patented Apr. 11, 19611,'`

afclu'st l guard "wellimemben 21 is ii'rs't'inserted downvvarjdlyv` l through the open' topof'pthle well and intogits' operative'" 3 v bers and 21 to maintain them in their intended location.

When the assembly is once installed, the journal stop members 20 and 21 are effectually locked in place and resist displacement such as might be caused by fore and aft shifting of the journal relative to the journal box. As described previously, the journal stops engage against the vertical edges of the walls adjacent thereto to resist fore and aft movements of the journal, and this engagement necessarily serves to limit fore and aft movements of the plates 23 and 25.

For a complete locking arrangement, it is also necessary to provide against vertical displacement of the journal stop members such as might be caused by vertical shifting of the journal relative Vto the journal box. As best seen in Fig. 3, the stops 24 carried by the plate 23 that is associated with the outer wall 12 of the dust guard will also interlock with this wall in the vertical direction so that uponV relative vertical movement between the stops and the wall adjacent thereto,.the stops will immediately engage against the wall and block su'ch movement. While no similar vertical interlocking exists in the case of the stops 26 carried by plate 25, none is actually necessary since the interlocking action of plate 23 and its stops 24 will preclude the possibility of the journal causing a vertical displacement of plate 25. If desired, however, the stops 26 could be extended upwardly as indicated in phantom lines at 28 in Fig. 2 to develop a similar vertical interlocking action for plate 25.

While the journal stops 24 and 26 may be given any desired surface configuration, such, for example, as the well-known at, vertically extending arrangement, they are preferably arranged to provide a relatively broad surface area for contact with the journal in order to minimize wear and to limit concentrated heat generation during the time of such contacts. For this purpose, each stop has a substantially at journal-engaging surface portion extending vertically a slight distance above and below the horizontal plane of the axis of the journal (see bracketed regions 29 in Figs. 2 and 3) and a vertically-` extending, smoothly-curving surface portion (see bracketed regions 30 in Figs. 2 and 3) located beneath and merging smoothly with the at portion. The curving portions 30 bend inwardly toward the axis of the journal; but, since their rate of curvature is less than the rate of curvature of the surface portion of the journal that is adjacent thereto, the clearance between the stop and the journal increases in the downward direction. While,V with this specic configuration for the journal stops, a line contact initially may exist between the journal and the stops, after a very few interactions'between these parts, the journal stop, because of its softer material, will yield slightly to provide a surface that is substantially complemental to the surface of the journal. At this time the curving surface portions 30 play a more active part and cooperate with the originally flat surface portions 29 to establish a broad surface area of contact.

The journal stop and dust guard plate assembly lends itself to the provision of an oil seal for more effectively retaining lubricant in the reservoir formed in the bottom of the journal box. As mentioned previously, the effective retaining level of the reservoir is usually at the level slightly beneath the effective retaining level 16, it .isz nevertheless important to limit loss of oil dueto splash-V ing by raising the eective retaining level for the res-l ervoir.

According to the present invention, this may ber accomplished by providing the plate with an arcuate sealing lip 33 for establishing liquid-tight engagement with the lower periphery of inner wall 13 of the dust guard well. The sealing lip itself is preferably of neoprene or a similar type of material that may readily be securely bonded to the lower lip of its supporting plate, and it consists of horizontal and vertical legs 34 and 35, respectively, with the horizontal leg carrying the vertical leg 35 in outwardly spaced relation from the plate 25.

As best seen in Figs. 1 and 5, the vertical leg 35 is serrated along the surface 36 that is to establish sealing engagement with the inner wall 13. In addition, this vertical leg tapers downwardly to provide a space between it and the plate 25 in the form of a downwardlyconverging slot and to ensure a more positive gripping action. While the sealing lip 33 raises the effective retaining level for the reservoir to the point indicated by the dotted line 37 in Fig. l and thus contributes importantly in eliminating loss of oil from the reservoir, its

hollow tubing 41, of neoprene or other similar material,

through which a garter spring 42 is extended,rwith the garter spring being tensioned to secure the tubing 41 in the V-notch 31 and with the tubing 41 establishing sealing engagement with both plate 25 and plate 23. Al-

' ternatively, the sealing ring could be an ordinary O-ring or other comparable arrangement.

It will be apparent from a consideration of Fig. 1 that the oil which splashes above sealing lip 33 is blocked by the supplementary action of the sealing ring 40 so that the only possible point of egress for the oil is the slight clearance that exists between the journal and the clust guard plate 27. Thus, the plate assembly of the invention provides an effective oil seal for the reservoir of the journal box, in addition to providing the advantageous journal-stop arrangement.

y For the complete protection of the plate assembly in the dust guard well, the invention includes a dust guard well cap for closing olf and establishing a positive seal around the open top of the dust guard well. The cap is in the form of a hollow, inverted, pan-shaped member 43 of resilient sealing material such as neoprene, with the opposite ones of the side walls of the pan converging downwardly to enhance the sealing action of the pan around the top of the clust guard well. The side walls terminate in outwardly directed .shoulders 44 that serve the objectsrof this invention have been accomplished in that the simpliedplate assembly is adapted for ready insertion in the dust guard well of a journal box to provide an improved journal-stop mechanism, to act as a dust guard, and to provide an effective oil-retaining seal for the dust guard well. It will bemnoted in particular that the journal stops are arranged toengage the journalat a region that does not atect the lubricating ,function4 and also at 'a` region that-does not come in contact with the Yjournal brass or bearing so that even should the journal become scored or marred -by the journal stops, this will no'tin any way impair its functioning.

It should be understood'that` the description of the preferredv form of the inventionis for the purpose` of complying with Section 112, Title 35, of the U.S`. Cbdi:`

andfthatthe appended claims should be construed as" broadly 'as the 'prior' art will permit.

envase@ I claim:

1. In an assembly for mounting at the inner end of a journal box, said inner end including laterally spaced outer and inner walls defining a dust guard well, with said assembly being receivable in the dust guard well and forming a central opening for receiving a journal that extends through the well and into the box, said assembly including an inner plate-like membei` adjacent sa1d inner wall and having a lower sealing lip engageable with the upper portion of the bottom end of said inner wall for raising the effective level thereof, and outer plate-like member adjacent said outer wall, and a dust guard engageable between said members; the improvement wherein said inner plate-like member has fore and aft spaced journal stops fixed thereon and offset laterally therefrom for engagement with oppositely facing vertical edges of said inner wall, said outer plate-like member has fore and aft spaced journal stops fixed thereon and offset laterally therefrom for engagement with oppositely facing vertical edges of said outer wall, and said dust guard has a laterally protuberant resilientring about its outery edge in compressed sealing engagement between said members.

2. The arrangement of claim 1 wherein the journal stops on one of said members extend upwardly into adjacent abutting relation with the wall adjacent said one bers by said journal.

3. In an assembly for mounting at the inner end of a journal box, said inner end including laterally spaced outer and inner walls defining a dust guard well, with said assembly being receivable in the dust guard well and forming a central opening for receiving a journal that extends through the well and into the box, said assembly including an inner plate-like member adjacent said inner wall and having a lower sealing lip engageable with the upper portion of the bottom end of said inner wall for raising the effective level thereof and spacing means engageable between said member and Said outer wall for holding said member in said dust guard well; the improvement wherein said inner wall has fore and aft spaced journal stops fixed thereon and offset laterally therefrom for engagement with oppositely facing vertical edges of said inner wall.

4. In an assembly for mounting at the inner end of a journal box, said inner end including laterally spaced outer and inner walls defining a dust guard well, with said assembly being receivable in the dust guard well and forming a central opening for receiving a journal that extends through the Well and into the box, said assembly including an inner plate-like member adjacent said inner wall, and spacing means engageable between said member and said outer wall for holding said member in said dust guard well; the improvement wherein said inner plate-like member has fore and aft spaced journal member for limiting upward displacement of said memstops fixed thereon and offset vertically therefrom for engagement with oppositely facing vertical edges of said inner wall.

5. In an assembly Vfor mounting at the inner end of a journal box, said inner end including laterally spaced outer and inner walls defining a dust guard well, with said assembly being receivable in the dust guard well and forming a central opening for receiving a journal that extends through the well and into the box, said assembly including a plate-like member adjacent one of said walls, and spacing means engageable between said member and the other wall for holding said member in said dust guard well; the improvement wherein said platelike member has fore and aft spaced journal stops fixed thereon and offset vertically therefrom for engagement with oppositely facing vertical edges of said one wall.

6. The arrangement of claim 5 wherein the journal stops on said plate-like member extend upwardly into adjacent abutting relation with the wall adjacent said member for limiting upward displacement of said member by said journal.

7. The arrangement of claim 5 wherein each of said journal stops has a substantially flat Ivertical journalengaging surface portion .extended above and below the region of the horizontal axis of said journal and a vertically extended curved surface portion beneath said flat surface portion and merging smoothly therewith, said curved surface portion being curved towards said journal with the rate of curvature of said curved surface portion being less than the rate of curvature of said journal.

8. A journal stop for mounting alongside a journal in a journal box to limit fore and aft movement of said journal relative to said box, said stop having a substantially fiat vertical journal-engaging surface portion extended above and below the region of the horizontal axis of said journal and a vertically extended curved surface portion beneath said dat surface portion and merging smoothly therewith, said curved surface portion being curved towards said journal with the rate of curvature of said curved surface portion being less than the rate of curvature of said journal.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 204,178 Williams May 28, 1878 1,081,556 Sanders Dec. 16, 1913 1,889,407 Grisbaum et al Nov. 29. 1932 2,152,937 Vigne et al. Apr. 4, 1939 2,159,825 Stevens May 23, 1939 2,237,287 Bieglow Apr. 8, 1941 2,637,604 Potter May 5, 1953 

